2009 Biking Vietnam

Vietnam
highlights: 10 December 2009 through 10 January 2010

Welcome to the SocialistRepublic of Vietnam. Vietnam
measures 330,000km2 and has 3,000km of coastline bordering the Gulf of Tonkin,
the South China Sea and the Gulf
of Thailand. Her
neighbours are China, Laos and Cambodia. At her narrowest point,
she measures only 50km while there are 1710km between Hanoi
and Ho Chi Minh City.
Vietnam’s
population is 80 million strong of whom more than half are under 25 years of
age, 10% are ethnic minorities, and only 2 million are Communist Party members.

Charl and I cycled 1100km in sections
between Dien Bien Phu (northwest) and Chau Doc
(southwest).

The Red River delta is home to Vietnam’s capital, Hanoi, which was founded exactly 1,000 years
ago. Her population of 3,7 million are hard working, sophisticated and
tolerant. During our four-day sojourn, we visited the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum
(Uncle Ho died in 1969 before the Vietnam War ended; his embalmed body goes to
Russia once a year for maintenance); the Temple of Literature (from 1070, for
800 years, the elite and bright were educated at the university here); the Hoa
Lo Prison Museum (built by the French to house Vietnamese political prisoners,
nicknamed the Hanoi Hilton by American POWs, the prison saw more than its fair
share of torture); the excellent Fine Arts and Ethnology museums (bridal pairs
often choose to have their photos taken outside the tribal homes on display at
the latter); the incredible karst hills 60km south of the city; and a Water
Puppet show.

Hanoi

Hanoi

Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum

Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum

Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum

Hanoi Temple of Literature

Hanoi Ethnology museum

Hanoi Ethnology museum

Hanoi Hoa Lo Prison

Near Perfume Pagoda southwest of Hanoi

From Hanoi
we flew west to Dien Bien Phu near the Laos border. It was here, on 7 May
1954, that the French were defeated by the Viet Minh* after a 57 day siege,
effectively numbering the days of French colonial rule in Indochina (Vietnam, Laos
and Cambodia).
When we left this provincial city, it was on our bikes. We cycled into and over
just some of Vietnam’s
northern mountains, enjoying the stunning scenery and the hill tribes (called
“moi” or savages by the Viet, the various tribes make up 10% of Vietnam’s
population).